


Enemies to Loves... Slowburn 300K

by buckyismymainman



Series: DC Comics One Shots [27]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, Gen, Reader is gender neutral, reporter!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28864530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: You and Tim can’t stand one another, but you can’t even remember why.  Your boss on the other hand loves your antagonistic relationship because it sells more papers.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Reader
Series: DC Comics One Shots [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776175
Kudos: 15





	Enemies to Loves... Slowburn 300K

No one is sure how it happened, but you and Tim Drake couldn’t stand one another. The rivalry had been going on for as long as anyone could remember. Tim said it started when you had written a bad article about him, and you said it had started when he continuously ignored you when you would try to get a comment out of him at one of the many events the two of you attended.

Either way no one was sure, but some people were on your side while others took Tim’s. Mainly his fans said that you were too harsh on him and that you should be fired. Many had spammed your boss’s email to get him to fire you. He never did, but it was cute that they thought they had a chance.

“You just had to take on Drake didn’t you?” He asked one day when he was walking by your desk on the way to refill his coffee.

You snorted, “He started it, boss.”

He merely waved a hand at you and continued on his way. 

The next time you saw Tim Drake was at a charity banquet for Gotham City Hospital. They needed updated equipment and the city’s elite had gathered to raise funds and awareness. You were always sent to these things and you think it was because your boss had it out for you and wanted to see what kind of reaction you could get out of Tim. He liked the controversy that the attention brought to the newspaper.

Throughout the night you mingled with the other guests and asked them questions about the charity and what it meant to them and if they had any words for their fellow citizens. They were all polite and cordial with you, smiling and answering your questions. For the most part, you and Tim had avoided one another, but you knew that you couldn’t stay away for too long. Your boss was expecting a quote from Tim and if you didn’t get one you’d be in trouble.

“Drake,” you said as you carefully approached him as if he were some kind of predator. You had to admit that he was handsome, just a complete pain in your ass.

“Y/L/N,” he responded, turning his attention to you. “Let me guess you need a quote?”

You narrowed your eyes, not liking the tone of his voice, “Yes.”

He considered his words and then said, “I’m looking forward to working closely with this charity. The Gotham City Hospital has done some amazing work and they deserve the best that the world has to offer. I’m sure my fellow citizens and I will all agree that the hospital is one of the most promising things about this city of ours.” He cocked his head to the side and studied you, “Will that suffice, Y/L/N?”

“It will, thank you, Mr. Drake,” you turned and quickly walked away from him, you could still feel his gaze on you the entire time.

A month went by and you and Tim’s antagonistic relationship was still going strong and going viral. Some people had taken to “shipping” the two of you together. Which put you off some. People were commenting things like, “Enemies to lovers, 300K, slowburn” and “Can you just imagine the sexual tension when you’re in a room with them?”. How anyone thought that you and Tim had any other feelings but hatred toward one another was beyond you.

“Y/N, could you come in here for a moment?” Your boss called from his office and you instantly stood to attention. You knew it was one of two things: one you were either in trouble or two he had a new assignment for you. When you stepped into his office you noticed Mr. Wayne sitting across from your boss. “Y/N, I believe you know who our guest is. Mr. Wayne had a wonderful idea and I want you to take him up on the offer.”

You looked between your boss and Mr. Wayne, “What’s the offer?”

Mr. Wayne leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together, “My son, Tim Drake, is going to be doing a lot for the Gotham City Hospital charity and I would like you to run a story on the entire thing. Total transparency.”

You blinked. “You do realize your son and I hate one another, correct?”

Mr. Wayne laughed, it wasn’t full-blown laughter, but you had made him chuckle nonetheless. “Yes, I am well aware of this, Mx. Y/L/N. But you are one of the best reporters here and you don’t bash my son over petty things, you’re critical and insightful and I respect that. Plus you keep Tim on his toes and he needs that.”

You looked back at your boss who seemed pleased by this, “How long will I have to shadow Mr. Drake for?”

“A month,” your boss said. “This is your number one priority for the time being. Have fun with it.”

You wanted to scoff but kept your mouth closed. Yeah, you were gonna have fun with it all right.

Two weeks in and you were starting to consider that Tim Drake was going to be your villain origin story.

He gave you short answers and half the time acted like you weren’t there when you shadowed him at the hospital. He was planning a fair to raise more money and bring some fun to Gotham City. You would ask him questions for the article and he would give you the bare minimum.

Finally one day you could no longer take it, “What is your problem with me?!”

Tim paused looking up from the computer he had been typing away at for most of the morning. “Would you like an itemized list or do you want short, sweet, and to the point?”

You clenched your hands into fists, “You’ve been nothing but arrogant to be from the moment we met. I tried to be civil, but for some ungodly reason you find pleasure in being a complete ass to me!”

The door to Tim’s office opened and in stepped Mr. Wayne, “The two of you do know that the entire floor can hear you, correct?” Though he didn’t seem perturbed by this and you could even see some people craning their necks trying to look into the office.

“I’m sorry if we were disrupting the workday, Mr. Wayne. It won’t happen again,” you said.

He looked between the two of you and shut the door, “Sit.” You sat and you and Tim shared a look, both of you in that moment sharing an experience of not knowing what was going to happen next. “I want you to name one thing that you like about the other.”

“Bruce–” Tim started, but a look from his adopted father had his mouth snapping shut.

Seeing no other alternative you said, “Tim has nice hair.”

“My hair? That’s really what you’re going to compliment me on?” He practically growled.

“Be thankful I even thought of anything at all,” you quipped back.

Bruce sighed, “Tim, your turn.”

Tim crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Y/N is actually a very skilled writer.” That floored you and he smirked, “What? Did you think I didn’t actually read your articles about me?”

You turned away and said, “I figured you’d want to stay as far away from anything I did as possible.”

“Mx. Y/L/N, is there anything else you would like to say about Tim that you like?” Bruce asked, he could already see the tension easing out of the room.

You considered the question for a moment, “I admired Mr. Drake’s work ethic.”

You snuck a look at Tim and saw that he was absolutely floored by your response. “Yes, well, I admire that article you did on Lex Luthor. You really managed to nail down how much of a dic–”

“Tim,” Mr. Wayne said.

“Right, well anyways are we done here? I have work that needs to be finished,” Tim didn’t want to partake in this little exercise anymore.

“I think we are,” Mr. Wayne offered you his arm. “Would you accompany me to lunch Mx. Y/L/N?” You accepted his offer, but couldn’t help but glance back at Tim before he was out of sight.

Things changed after that. Tim was a little less antagonistic toward you. He actually took time to give your questions thoughtful answers and didn’t snap at you as often as he once had. Your boss seemed a little disappointed that he wasn’t going to have a scathing article, but he liked the idea of what kind of buzz this budding relationship could bring.

“I can see the headlines now, ‘Reporter and Billionaire… Friends?’.” He chuckled at his comment and looked at you. “What caused the sudden change?”

“No idea,” you admitted. “He’s just been… different lately.”

Your boss didn’t seem to bothered by your response, “Well all is well that ends well, I guess. Can’t wait to see the piece, Y/L/N.”

You wound up leaving the office later than normal and trying to find a cab running at this late hour was damn near impossible in Gotham. Sighing you headed down the street hoping to catch the trains before they stopped running for the night. On your way to the subway, you heard a set of footsteps behind you.

Your immediate response wasn’t to fight or flight. Just because there was someone behind you didn’t mean that someone was going to try and mug you or kill you. But when the footsteps started to speed up you broke into a run, your heart pounding in your ears.

Someone roughly grabbed you and slammed you into a wall, a gun was pressed into your back, “Wallet and valuables, now.”

You had begun to shake and were just about to comply when your assailant was ripped away from you. You turned to see Red Robin fighting the man that had tried mugging you and you pressed yourself against the wall praying for this whole thing to be over soon. 

Red Robin finished the man off and turned to you, “Are you all right?” His voice was eerily familiar and you just kind of looked at him. Seeming to get annoyed he asked, “Are you hurt?”

That voice, where had you heard it before. Finding your own you said, “I’m fine, just a little shaken up.”

Red Robin studied you and then nodded, “All right. At least let me walk you to the station.” You let him lead you to the station and before you could step onto the train he stopped you, “Are you sure you’re all right, Y/N?”

“I’m fine, thanks for saving me,” you offered him a smile and then stepped onto the train. As it pulled away you realized that he knew your name. 

Red Robin had said your name.

Then it clicked.

Tim Drake was Red Robin. He was always tired, claiming he worked late, was around the same height and build. And you had spent enough time with him over the past few weeks to recognize his voice.

“Holy shit,” you muttered, but then grinned. Oh, this was good.

The following day when you walked into Tim’s office you made sure the door was shut tight before saying, “Fancy seeing you last night, Red Robin. Were you following me or just happened to be in the neighborhood?”

Tim stood up, slamming his laptop shut, “How the–”

“You said my name, Tim.” You moved closer to the desk, nearly coming nose to nose with Tim. “And I’m a journalist for crying out loud, give me a little credit.”

He backed away from you, “What will it take for you to stay quiet? You want money? A higher position at your job? Name it and within the hour it’s yours.”

“I want answers,” you said to him. “I want to know why you hate me.”

Tim blinked. “That’s it?”

“I’m not going to tell the world you’re Red Robin, by the way why Red Robin? Isn’t that a food chain or something?” You shook your head, “Nevermind, I don’t need to know that. But do you know what kind of damage that would do if the BatFam’s identities were leaked? I’m not going to be the cause of that.”

Tim slowly lowered himself into his chair, “So all you want to know is why I hate you?”

“Yep,” you popped the ‘p’.

“I don’t hate you,” Tim’s answer shocked you, causing you to sit up straighter. “I don’t know why everyone thinks I hate you so much. Or why you do. I’m like this with everyone.” His cheeks turned a little pink as he admitted the next part, “After a while, I kind of liked riling you up. You’re cute when you get passionate.”

Your mouth opened but no sound came out. Did Tim Drake just say he thought you were cute? “Wait, wait, wait!” You held up your hands. “You’ve never hated me?”

“No, although I did get upset at some of those articles you wrote about me,” he admitted. “I am not snobbish.”

You snorted, “Sure and I’m the Queen of England.”

He glared at you, but with his admission, it seemed a little less intimidating to you. “Whatever,” he said, wanting to get away from the topic. “But it’s the truth, I’ve never hated you. It just sort of became that way after a while with the different stories that were run about us and our so-called hostile relationship.”

“Can imagine what they’ll say now?” You grinned at him and you managed to get a tiny smile out of him.

He leaned his head back and groaned, “I can already see the shippers now.” The two of you laughed and then he surprised you by asking, “Would you like to get dinner with me on Friday?”

“I’d love to, Tim.”


End file.
